Digitoxin

Several reports¹have recently appeared concerning the value of digitoxin for the treatment of patients with congestive heart failure. It has been demonstrated1athat the cat unit potency of digitoxin has no clinical relationship to that of digitalis leaf. It is essential, therefore, that extensive clinical studies be done to establish the proper dosage and the best methods of administration. Furthermore, since many glycosides are becoming available for clinical use, all should be thoroughly studied before any final decision is made concerning the selection of any particular glycoside as the one of choice. As part of our program, now in progress, for the evaluation of cardiac glycosides, digitoxin has been studied in several ways. Its use for the maintenance of the digitalized state in ambulatory patients has already been reported.²The purpose of the present report is to submit our experiences with digitoxin for the initial digitalization